Wednesday, April 23, 2014

"All of these peoples teach us that there are other ways of being, other ways of thinking, other ways of orienting yourself in the Earth. And this is an idea, if you think about it, can only fill you with hope. .... And you might think of this cultural web of life as being an ethnosphere, and you might define the ethnosphere as being the sum total of all thoughts and dreams, myths, ideas, inspirations, intuitions brought into being by the human imagination since the dawn of consciousness. The ethnosphere is humanity's great legacy. It's the symbol of all that we are and all that we can be as an astonishingly inquisitive species."

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Tuesday, April 22, 2014

"An ancient form of aquaculture practiced on the West Coast proves to be quite productive. Clam gardens are beach-terraces that were constructed by First Nations on the West Coast over many hundred of years before European contact, in a deceptively simple form of aquaculture. Dr. Anne Salomon, a marine ecologist from Simon Fraser University, and her group, investigated just how productive these clam gardens were."

"Aboriginal Music Week is a music festival in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. We present Native, Métis, Inuit, and Indigenous artists who perform hip hop, electronic, traditional, world, folk, rock, country, and blues music. Aboriginal Music Week for 2014 is set for August 20 to 24."

Visit the site to find out about artists, albums and listen to live streaming.

"Della Maguire offered a weeklong workshop, with 10 senior Mi'kmaq women participating, recently at the Glooscap Heritage Centre... Her goal is to pass the art on to other women who will keep making baskets once the workshop is done, and can then pass it on to people in their own communities... The laborious process to make a basket takes hours. The ash strips must be cut into various widths to make the base of the basket, then the walls and finally the lid. Strips can also by dyed to add some colour. Experienced basket makers can put intricate patterns into their labours of love by bending and twisting the strips."

[Prime Minister] Harper said resource development offers "significant economic development" in regions where aboriginal communities are dominant - and where they haven't had large-scale economic opportunities - "for the first time in Canadian history." [...] However, Edward John, Grand Chief of B.C.'s First Nations Summit, said the economic opportunities for First Nations to benefit from resource development still come from their underlying legal rights, and Harper needs to address those directly.

Kwe' aq pjila'si, I am Vice Principal - Aboriginal Education for Surrey School district in BC, Canada. (Formerly a coordinator of Library and Information Services for SD38) I teach a Library Administration course and an Aboriginal Issues course for UBC and have a Masters in Educational Technology and Learning Design. I am also proud to claim my Mi'kmaq heritage. Wela'lioq for visiting.

Mawita'jig

This blog is a place for me to celebrate my roots and heritage. I feel a strong connection to my ancestor Mattie Mitchell (my mom's great grand-father) and I will be using this space to share links I find, and connect with others who want to discover Mi'kmaq culture and other First Nations influences.